1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for recording digital contents and its controlling method, and more particularly to a method and system for controlling record of digital contents delivered through a broadcast or a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, the contents (image and sound) delivered through a broadcast or Internet are digital data. In the future, the ratio of the digital contents to be delivered is more and more increased compared with the analogue signal method.
Under the present circumstances, illegal copies of digital contents are prevalent because digital data can be copied without deteriorating in the quality.
In order to prevent from this illegal copy, hitherto, a content creator has tried to secure the contents, for example, by scrambling the contents.
In this contents protecting method by using scramble, however, once an algorithm for releasing the scramble is cracked, thereafter the contents can be copied as much as one likes.
Then, hitherto, copying the contents is limited by inserting non-visible information (digital watermark) into an image.
The contents generally include the following four types of recording controlling information to the effect that:
recording is prohibited (hereinafter, referred to as NeverCopy)
it was recorded once and no more recording is permitted (hereinafter, referred to as NoMoreCopy)
only one recording is permitted (hereinafter, referred to as CopyOnce)
recording is free (hereinafter, referred to as CopyFree).
With respect to the contents of NeverCopy and NoMoreCopy, in view of securing a copyright of an owner of the contents, recording operation itself has been prohibited on the side of a device, even if someone tries to record the contents.
Even if a recording device is programmed to record contents at a predetermined delivering time of the contents by setting the recording start, when the same contents are of the NeverCopy or the NoMoreCopy, nothing is recorded in the recording device. Since a user cannot know the recording controlling information of the contents delivered through a broadcast or a network, he or she doesn't know immediately why nothing has been recorded in the recording device programmed to record the contents and he or she may take it for a setting mistake of a timer or others.
Therefore, a user judges that something is wrong with the recording device and for example, some users may make a complaint to a maker who provided the recording device, which is a much burden to the maker.